From a distance, e-cigs look just like the real thing. But are they any safer? “Electronic Cigarette Burning Into U.S. Market,” NBC Chicago
We know for a fact that the cost of indirect medical expenditures from smoking exceeds $92 billion a year in this country. We also have data indicating that smokers cost businesses productivity because smokers are simply not as efficient in any workforce as non-smokers. So when new technologies like the sexy “e-cig,” a sleek electronic version of a cigarette marketed as a “smoking alternative” hit the market, smokers may think it’s cool and businesses may think it’s a less offensive habit. But a new way to smoke is not the same as quitting.
In fact, the e-cig may have deeper implications for a business’ productivity and health care costs than most people realize, because we don’t know a lot about it and it is attractive to both adults and kids.
Although it may be promoted as a fun, clean smoking alternative, the e-cig is not a credible, FDA approved technique for quitting. In fact, manufacturers won’t reveal the entire ingredient list, so it’s unclear what smokers are inhaling. (Regardless of the ingredients, any time you inhale something directly into your lungs it’s likely to cause damage and trauma to tissue that potentially puts the smoker at risk for cancer and other complications.)
Sadly, this product also targets your employees’ dependants. Kids are the fastest growing segment of smokers, often susceptible to marketing and promotions, and who mimic the adults they see. If a child sees an adult with this product in their house, they’re going to want to try it. Unfortunately, a third of all households in the U.S. with kids under the age of 6 have at least one adult smoker.
So what role, if any, should businesses play? At least 70 percent of employees who smoke want to quit but don’t know how. Ultimately, smokers can learn to quit even if they don’t want to – and businesses should want them to. Get your productivity back and help control your health care costs by helping smokers stop.
Employers who help employees stop smoking save an average of $1800 per employee per year that quits. The cost for helping them learn to stop can be as little as $350 per employee.
There are proven techniques that we know work and the e-cig sounds like another gimmick. Proven smoking cessation programs are a much better bet, and one that businesses should consider offering to employees as part of their wellness benefit.
Carol Southard is a Smoking Cessation Consultant for Perspectives, Ltd., supporting its workplace wellness and employee assistance programs (EAPs,) and a tobacco treatment specialist at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness. Carol, an RN, MSN, and American Lung Association certified instructor with over 20 years experience and proven success, is a pioneer in the field of smoking cessation.
Tags: cessation, e-cig, electronic cigarette, FDA, smoking, tobacco
June 17th, 2009 at 4:58 am
I have yet to hear of children using the electronic cigarette. When we interviewed Dr Adrian Payne on this issue, he told us: “I’m not aware of any evidence that this is, or is even likely to be, the case. In the first place, E-cigarettes are not ‘pocket-money’ devices. Secondly, I don’t think anyone has raised the same concerns about pharmaceutical nicotine inhalators which, in the UK at least, are available over the counter.” (http://www.ecigarettedirect.co.....rview.html) Could you point me towards the evidence for this, or is this just something you have made up?
Secondly, the FDA will shortly be respsonible for regulating the ciagrette which kill 400,000 Americans (while attempting to ban cheerios), so FDA approval does not mean a product is safe.
Thirdly, lets remember that while organisations such as ASH UK and the WHO have said there is no proof that these products can help cessation, they also refused to discount the possibility that it could help cessation. Studies have proven that the e-cigarette can reduce nicotine cravings and increase the level of nicotine in the blood, and there is at least anecdotal evidence that it can help some smokers in the short term at least (http://www.ecigarettedirect.co.....ments.html). It would be foolish to rule out the possibility. Sueccess rates are hardly likely to be worse than the current cessation aids, which recent studies suggest have a cessation rate of just 1.6% when measured at 12 months.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I am NOT raising concerns regarding nicotine inhalers. In fact, I am a strong advocate of all FDA approved cessation pharmacotherapy, including of course the NRT products and I incorporate use of same in my very successful, comprehensive tobacco cessation program. Multiple studies site the success of these products – showing at least doubling quit rates. There are no such studies showing quit rate success using the e-cig. Nor is there evidence published in peer reviewed scientific journals that these products are safe. In fact, World Health Organization (WHO), in a release dated September 19, 2008, stated that, “WHO has no scientific evidence to confirm the product’s safety and efficacy.”
I AM concerned that this product could serve as a gateway devise – children do not need any more exposure to tantalizing tobacco products. Other countries have banned the sale of e-cigarettes. These products should be removed from the U.S. market until and unless they are proven safe and effective.
July 4th, 2009 at 8:57 am
So someone who is a “smoking cessation consultant” has a concerns about e-cigs?
Can you say “vested interest” at all – along with tobacco companies and big pharmas people like the author have the most to lose if e-cigs really take off because they won’t be needed!
I’ve been using e-cigarettes for a while now, feel much healthier and have had zero withdrawal problems at all. You are correct that their safety hasn’t been proven yet, but common sense dictates they are safer than traditional cigarettes that contain so many known carcinogens and additives.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:29 am
How many McDonalds commercials are shown daily? A big clown with makeup on sure seems to appeal directly to children, and for what? – to raise a new generation of obese Americans with unnatural diabetes rates and heart issues. Perhaps a big mac should include a $3.00 tax increase per burger, and all other menu items according to fat and sodium content. Maybe parents should be arrested for taking their children to a movie intended for a “more mature audience,” – of course, a movie that showcases their favorite celebrities dressed half-naked.
My arguments are ridiculous, as are any claims that nicotine vaporizers are some how less safe than a traditional cigarette or target children by offering an alternative to harsh tobacco flavor. The reactive species and free radicals present in cigarette smoke are a murderous cocktail. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to compare the chemical output of an e-cig compared to a traditional one. Take a look at what new medications are advertised on television… allergy fighting drugs that are known to have immnue-suppressing agents, cause liver and kidney damage, and “in rare cases,” fatality.
People have the choice to exercise or sit on the couch, to eat salad or sloppy joe sandwiches. These are lifestyle choices. 50 million smokers probably do not feel comfortable with a handful of ideologists dictating that they may not use e-cigs, but seem to be fine with handing over cigarettes at a hefty premium. Enough is enough..
July 7th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Of course e-cigs are less dangerous than cigarettes. NOTHING is more dangerous than a cigarette. But I am about providing efficacious and safe cessation methods. I do not favor harm reduction. I focus on harmless means to help people take control over this most difficult of all addictions. Many lifestyle behaviors are indeed a result of choice. Addiction, however, is not a choice – it is a chronic condition which warrants repeated intervention. I provide safe and effective treatments and have the success rate to prove it! And while I love what I do more than anything else I have ever done in my career as a nurse, trust me – it is not lucrative. I would be thrilled to be out of business because people no longer smoked!
October 5th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
The only thing that I know of that could be harmful from the ecig is propylene glycol which if you already smoke is a mute point since it is in cigarettes . I was going to distribute the ecig and had 100 packages confiscated by the FDA. I was not informed that they had seized my property nor was I informed that they were slaked for destruction. No matter your opinions on the ecig I am not sure if the FDA has not been over reaching seeing that they do not as of yet have any regulations on the e cig.
October 24th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I was a thirty year smoker. I went through all the cessation techniques. Quite a few of the medicines, including the patch, inhaler, and pill, all made me very ill. Ecigs got me off tobacco in two weeks.
Just because something doesn’t have a sanctioned 8 year clinical trial with statistics you can spout, doen’t mean it won’t work. As for the narrow minded, brainwashed individuals who have vested interests in tobacco sales, we would also be thrilled to see you out of business.
December 15th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
The odds of quitting by going cold turkey are 5%. Doubling that gets you to 10%. In contrast, a survey conducted by the University of Alberta earlier this year found that 79% of e-cigarette users replaced all their tobacco cigarettes with the vaporized nicotine. An informal ongoing survey that has over 1,300 responses to-date puts the success rate 81%. So, during the past year that this product has been on the market, it has enjoyed a success rate 800% better than the FDA’s nicotine-weaning products.
Users are reporting they can breathe without wheezing, laugh without going into a coughing fit, and have reduced their reliance on asthma medication. They have more energy and stamina. In short, they are experiencing all the health benefits you normally see when someone stops smoking tobacco cigarettes — because they have stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes.
It bothers me that you believe that people can “learn” to quit smoking. The first step in the systems approach to developing training is to conduct an analysis to determine where the knowledge and skills gaps are. When you have performance problems that are not caused by such gaps, training won’t solve those problems.
It also bothers me that anyone entrusted with the health of others rejects the concept of harm reduction.
Approximately 85% of smokers experience persistent impairments in instrumental activities of daily living when they abstain from nicotine. They experience problems in relationships and problems taking care of their responsibilties that last well after detoxification. Their work performance degrades because they keep making mistakes, no matter how hard they try to concentrate. They experience confusion, depression, anxiety, and irritability.
These problems are caused by imbalances in neurotransmitters that are kept in check by nicotine. Until now, the most effective way of getting therapeutic levels of nicotine to the brain quickly was by using the most deadly method–inhaling cigarette smoke. The vaporized nicotine from electronic cigarettes has allowed tens of thousands of users to regain their physical health without being required to sacrifice their cognitive and emotional health.
These are not children. Over 80% smoked for more than 5 years, and 50% smoked over 20 years. These are people who tried numerous combinations of “approved” cessation methods, herbal remedies, acupuncture, hypnosis, etc. to no avail. If this is a “gateway” device, it is the gate that leads away from tobacco smoking. Electronic cigarette users report that tobacco cigarettes now taste nasty. They have no desire to return to smoking.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:45 pm
A few things about your column and comments bother me. Firstly, you claim (like many others do) that the ecig could be a gateway device, but that argument only makes sense if children are allowed to have bank/credit cards to make their purchase online. The start-up costs are prohibitive, and the time required (charging, filling etc.) makes it much more likely that a kid will pick up a cigarette than an e-cig.
There is no clinical proof that the ecig can help you quit smoking “analogs”, but I have personally met several people who have “quit” this way as well as myself. It is still considered smoking, but the ingredients are (visibly) much less harmful.
Ingredients of Johnson Creek Liquid: Propylene Glycol (or food grade vegetable glycerin in VG formula),tobacco essential oil, tobacco absolute, Citric acid, lemon, vinegar, distilled water.
PG is considered to be healthy for consumption or it would not be used in food products. (source: the bottle on my desk)
The FDA approves cigarettes for use despite thousands of harmful chemicals, yet refuses to approve a product that is, as of yet, considered by many to be harmless. I really don’t think it is fair to make a product like this illegal when it is an alternative to a legal product that is proven to be harmful.
February 10th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
You have no idea what you are talking about! We will not know the long term effects (if any)until that time comes, but it is safe to say that e-cigs are 99.9% better for us than tobacco.